Chocolate was born in the Americas, but came of age in Europe. The native people of Mesoamerica revered chocolate thousands of years ago – it was not until Europeans set foot in the new world that chocolate made its way across the Atlantic. But chocolate took the old world by storm and Europe’s chocolate culture blossomed quickly. Indeed, Europe was the culinary center of the chocolate universe for centuries. Swiss chocolate. Belgian chocolate. German chocolate. The names became synonymous with a chocolate craft that was long dormant in the new world.

And yet, the roots of chocolate’s new world heritage remained strong. They could be felt in Central American communities that still incorporated chocolate into daily life. They could be seen in the renewed scientific interest of cacao’s intriguing genetic history. And they could be tasted in the fledgling group of American companies that were beginning to form the backbone of a chocolate renaissance.

It was these roots that drew us out of our legal and financial careers and into the world of chocolate. We feel very lucky to have jumped in at such an exciting time.

There is something brewing in the world of American chocolate. Bean-to-bar makers are popping up everywhere. People’s chocolate horizons are rapidly expanding beyond the Hershey’s monolith. What will happen next is anybody’s guess but there is no doubt these are exciting times.

One thing we believe is important is to continue educating as many people as possible. That is why we are so excited to help Georg Bernardini distribute his book in the US.

Georg is one of Europe’s chocolate luminaries and the fact that he decided to publish the new edition of his book in English is evidence of how far the chocolate culture in the US has come in just the past few years.

We hope that the book can become a small but important part of the American chocolate conversation. In the book, now titled “Chocolate – The Reference Standard,” Georg succeeds in comprehensively laying out the entire world of chocolate. In addition to cataloging virtually every chocolate maker and bar in the world, he explains in detail how chocolate is made, where it comes from, how it is harvested, the different ways professionals can craft it, and much much more.

His hope, and ours, is that the book will serve as both a resource for chocolate professionals and a gateway to the world of chocolate for neophytes – like us! For more information about the book or to pre-order your copy today please visit: www.thechocolatetester.com. And stay tuned over the coming weeks as we reveal more and more about the book.

We are very excited to be part of this movement and hope you will join us for the ride!